The Rams’ Sunday Night Football romp over Tampa Bay gives Los Angeles a mulligan from one of their few mistakes of the 2025 season
Week 12 is the Rams’ ‘Get out of jail free’ card for 2025.
The Los Angeles Rams didn’t waste much time playing with their food this evening. Los Angeles jumped quickly on top of a banged up Tampa Bay Buccaneers team thanks to a red-hot Matthew Stafford and a bobbled Baker Mayfield pass that was returned for a touchdown by cornerback Cobie Durant. A sudden 14-point early lead was all the Rams needed to feast the rest of the way and Los Angeles romped to a 34-7 victory on Sunday Night Football.
The primetime victory wasn’t just a comfortable victory over a potential fellow NFC division winner. It also marked an erasure of an early season-gaffe by the Rams and gives Los Angeles a new lease on life in the NFC playoff field.
Los Angeles Rams return to the NFC’s No. 1 seed after Sunday Night Football win and Philadelphia Eagles loss
Both of the Rams’ losses thus far in 2025 should haunt them. The first, a Week 3 collapse against the Philadelphia Eagles, threatens the Rams’ standing for a potential deep playoff run. Remember? That was a game the Rams led 26-7 early in the second half only to watch the Eagles block multiple field goals, including a potential game-winning kick at the end of regulation that was returned for a touchdown. Entering into the Week 12 schedule, the Rams were tied with the Eagles in the win/loss column atop the NFC standings.
Alas, the head-to-head decision was tipping the scales in the Eagles’ favor. But now? Philadelphia got walked off by the Dallas Cowboys and that, paired with the Rams’ romp over Tampa Bay, has Los Angeles back in control of their own destiny in the NFC. If an early-season collapse to Philadelphia ends up being responsible for a trip to the east coast and a sequel of a playoff matchup with the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field as compared to a home game, it will be a hard pill to swallow.
But, for now, the Rams have a fresh lease on life — and control their own destiny once again to erase the weight that early season loss could have on the final standings.
Current 2025 NFC Playoff seeding after SNF of Week 12
- Los Angeles Rams: 9-2
- Philadelphia Eagles: 8-3
- Chicago Bears: 8-3
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6-5
- Seattle Seahawks: 8-3
- Chicago Bears: 8-3
- San Francisco 49ers: 8-4
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